Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to contrast.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | oppose | I contrast | |
| tu | opposes | you contrast | |
| il / elle / on | oppose | he / she / it contrastson: we contrast / one contrasts | |
| nous | opposons | we contrast | |
| vous | opposez | you contrast | |
| ils / elles | opposent | they contrast |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul oppose deux conceptions du travail.
Paul contrasts two approaches to work.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai opposé | I contrasted | |
| tu | as opposé | you contrasted | |
| il / elle / on | a opposé | he / she / it contrastedon: we contrasted / one contrasted | |
| nous | avons opposé | we contrasted | |
| vous | avez opposé | you contrasted | |
| ils / elles | ont opposé | they contrasted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a opposé deux conceptions du travail.
Yesterday, Paul contrasted two approaches to work.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opposais | I used to contrast | |
| tu | opposais | you used to contrast | |
| il / elle / on | opposait | he / she / it used to contraston: we used to contrast / one used to contrast | |
| nous | opposions | we used to contrast | |
| vous | opposiez | you used to contrast | |
| ils / elles | opposaient | they used to contrast |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul opposait deux conceptions du travail.
Back then, Paul used to contrast two approaches to work.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opposerai | I will contrast | |
| tu | opposeras | you will contrast | |
| il / elle / on | opposera | he / she / it will contraston: we will contrast / one will contrast | |
| nous | opposerons | we will contrast | |
| vous | opposerez | you will contrast | |
| ils / elles | opposeront | they will contrast |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul opposera deux conceptions du travail.
Later, Paul will contrast two approaches to work.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opposerais | I would contrast | |
| tu | opposerais | you would contrast | |
| il / elle / on | opposerait | he / she / it would contraston: we would contrast / one would contrast | |
| nous | opposerions | we would contrast | |
| vous | opposeriez | you would contrast | |
| ils / elles | opposeraient | they would contrast |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul opposerait deux conceptions du travail.
Paul would contrast two approaches to work.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | oppose | (that) I contrast | |
| tu | opposes | (that) you contrast | |
| il / elle / on | oppose | (that) he / she / it contrastson: (that) we contrast / one contrasts | |
| nous | opposions | (that) we contrast | |
| vous | opposiez | (that) you contrast | |
| ils / elles | opposent | (that) they contrast |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul oppose deux conceptions du travail.
It is possible that Paul contrasts two approaches to work.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to oppose
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations